


drop dead crazy

by halfaday



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Blood and Violence, M/M, alternate universe - slasher, brief descriptions of murdered bodies, minor characters deaths, murders but also FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27043048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfaday/pseuds/halfaday
Summary: A serial killer, their next victim and a group project walk into school. Who do you think makes it out alright?
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 27
Kudos: 35
Collections: Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors





	drop dead crazy

**Author's Note:**

> my greatest apologies to nct. i hold no beef against any of the members, and this is not me jumping on the chance to secretly send hate to some of them. this is purely fictional.
> 
> \+ cw for slasher vibes; brief descriptions of dead (murdered) bodies. overuse of one of the three words making up the title.

Unsurprisingly, the news reaches him late, anticlimactically — after spending the entire evening googling Edogawa Ranpo, reading article after article for hours. By the time he clicks on the link Kun sent to the _project group chat,_ he's half-asleep and his back Hurts — most of the university is already tattling about the news, and an assembly has already been announced. (Kun has gone to sleep, and so has Dongyoung, probably, silent the entire evening — the messages fail to register in Mark's brain, until he takes a look at the headline,)

STUDENT DONG SICHENG FOUND DEAD, HANGING FROM A TREE. SOUTH-EAST POLICE TO INVESTIGATE.

 _Oh, shit._ he manages to type — shell-shocked, unable to believe his eyes. Gazing back at him with a sweet smile, a younger-than-he-actually-was-Sicheng has been used as a heading. Mark takes a seat on his bed.

 _Oh shit._ he sends again. And because it's two in the morning, none replies. He has to make peace with the facts on his own, has to let it sink in on his own.

Sicheng, dead. Hanging from a tree.

(His phone buzzes, and displays one unopened notification from the group chat.)

_kunhang: (02:03:04) crazy, right?_

🔪

Dong Sicheng was stabbed six times, kind of everywhere in the abdomen, before he was hung to the tree by his house, right before his parents came home from the cinema. That, Mark knows: it's all people talk about when he makes it to university the next day, and it's all he remembers from the officers' speech when they barge into their early morning lit class.

'It's kinda crazy, isn't it?' Kunhang says as they head outside for lunch. 'It's a bit batshit insane.'

Mark isn't sure _batshit insane_ is what he'd go for if he were asked about the situation, but he gets what his classmate means — he nods, solemnly agrees as they take place on a bench by the philosophy department.

'It's stressful,' he says in-between bites of his sandwich, something honeyed with a rather strong aftertaste. 'I hope they catch the murderer soon.'

 _Isn't very reassuring to know there's a killer on the loose,_ he adds — to which Kunhang leans forward, a grave expression replacing the usual joie de vivre that paints his features.

'I don't know,' he whispers, 'I've heard from Johnny that a note was found by Sicheng's body.'

 _Something very odd, along the lines of_ beware, you're next, Kunhang murmurs even more quietly, and Mark shudders.

'Do you think this was… planned? That there'll be… more?'

Kunhang leans back, shrugs — the sun graces his face again, and he looks - more normal, human — like the usual Kunhang who sits too close to Mark, who makes jokes to lighten up the atmosphere and whose aura radiates yellow, orange, _warmth._

'Dunno,' he says. 'I guess time will tell. Crazy, huh?'

Mark can only nod in fear.

🔪

It turns out there _is_ a note — and Mark would find relief in knowing this if it weren't for the fact that said-note is found _by Jeong Jaehyun's body._

Said-body is discovered in the gymnasium, around seven o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday — dead Jaehyun lies on top of the pile of gym mats pitifully, stabbed six times in the abdomen — a thin stream of blood rumouredly pours out of his agape lips, and his eyes (that one, Mark Knows, because he's seen the picture a student took of them) are wide open. It's a frightening painting, and Mark wishes he could erase it from his imagination.

'Crazy, huh?' Kunhang says in lit class, as he, Mark and Kun review the material they have so far for their project.

'Awful,' Kun shakes his head, 'absolutely awful.' Then he straightens himself up, gives a kick to the table. 'Quiet, he's here.'

It's a few seconds before Dongyoung takes place at their table — jet black hair a mess, puffy eyes wandering around — shaky hands struggling to take out the material for the class, and expression unguarded as he pretends to be deeply immersed by Edogawa Ranpo's life, death, career and character he left behind. Mark — feels, for him, deeply.

Though he didn't know Sicheng, only exchanged a few words with Jaehyun two years ago — he knows how loss feels, and what it leaves behind.

 _I'm sorry for your loss,_ he wants to say — wishes he could articulate. But Mark is a coward, and a mere eye-contact with Dongyoung is enough to have him deflate and give up — he remains quiet, and does not say anything.

🔪

It's two weeks before anything happens again — Mark falls sick after the first one, and has to rely on the _project group chat's secret group chat_ (Dongyoungless, for obvious reasons) when the news drops.

LEE TAEYONG, SURVIVOR OF THE MASKED MONSTER. 'I COULDN’T SEE HIS EYES.'

 _Crazy,_ Kunhang sends to the group chat — he repeats the same thing two days later, on the phone as he updates Mark.

'The thing,' he explains, 'is that everyone's supremely pleased Taeyong made it out. He's treated like a legend, you should see him. But…'

 _It's got people acting weird,_ he murmurs, and he tells Mark about what he heard in the afternoon: Johnny and Yuta talking to each other in the bathrooms, freaking out about Taeyong being alive — whispering that Dongyoung is _next,_ that he'll meet Hell very soon. Making threats in the open, until the bell rang, and Kunhang was left shaking on his seat.

'That's probably why Dongyoung hasn't been around nowadays,' Kunhang concludes, surprisingly chill considering the situation.

'Crazy,' Mark whispers, a lump of unease lodged in his throat.

The only answer he gets is a hum of agreement.

🔪

Kunhang offers to celebrate his 'comeback' (his words, certainly not Mark's) at the movies; after an unhealthy dinner at the fast food that recently opened — it's a nice evening in sight, and Mark arrives early.

That's the only thing that goes according to plan.

Kun has to help out his grandmother, and declines at the last minute — no movie sounds interesting enough, and the new fast food is packed.

Sulking (Kunhang), disappointed (Mark), they head to a place at which they had lunch one year ago — pitiful, less victorious, but they end up having fun, and it's lighter that Mark walks out of the restaurant. Kunhang, he's concluded, is a neat guy when you get to know him outside of school — he's pretty sweet, and he's nice to be around. Going out is, of course, another reminder of the tragedy currently unfolding (the posters matching Taeyong's description of his assaulter; the QR code for the killer's instagram filter plastered on multiple street lights; the chilling _you're next, Kim Dongyoung_ tagged near the bus stop at which the pair waits) -

But Kunhang is a good distraction, and the peace he radiates makes Mark feel… alright, almost.

Until he makes the mistake of checking his phone before going to sleep, and he finds a new link, waiting for him in the PGC's secret group chat - along with a message from Kunhang.

LEE DONGHYUCK LESS LUCKY THAN BROTHER TAEYONG, FOUND DEAD, HANGING FROM HIS BEDROOM WINDOW. EXPERTS TO TALK SOON.

_(22:32:19) damn. that's really crazy._

Obviously.

🔪

The only thing that happens when Mark comes back on Monday, is Yuta getting arrested. _Impossible, illogical,_ people whisper on the officers' way out; again and again during the day — _so obvious, Yuta sounds like the kind of guy who murders people._

It drives Mark insane; is, frankly, a scene he'd rather forget — it's _crazy,_ simply crazy, and it drowns him, suffocates him — stabs his heart too, and -

(A hand covers his — Kunhang gives him a reassuring smile, and offers to skip Philosophy.

'I think we got our fill for the day,' he says.

Following him to their bench, Mark can only agree.)

🔪

But Yuta's arrest lasts two days: he's got an iron-like alibi (and he’s rich). 

_Hilarious, impossible, fake news!!_ screams every student, but Mark's only thought is one word, pretty familiar to him: _crazy,_ and it's what he sends to the secret group chat when Kun sends them the article. Little does he know, the day has still many surprises left in store.

'Have you seen the link Kun just sent?' Kunhang asks later, while they're on the phone, supposedly discussing Edogawa Ranpo's debut as a writer (instead arguing about what's best to do on vacation: canoe or movies. Going on tangents is easy, with Kunhang).

Mark replies that he didn't — opens the group chat on his laptop, and gasps at the headline that greets him as a link preview.

SUH JOHNNY ARRESTED. POLICE POSITIVE HE IS THE CULPRIT.

'Oh shit,' Mark says, a very good mirror of himself a few weeks ago — except this time, he says it out loud,

And once again, Kunhang is right there to process it with him.

'That's crazy, isn't it?'

🔪

Dongyoung doesn't show up to class for the rest of the week. Kun calls it _fair enough, he needs time —_ and Mark kinda agrees, but he also believes Kunhang is right when he lets out a loud sigh, and says the group presentation is about to fit a trio rather than a quatuor. It sucks, a bit.

'But there isn't any other way to go about this,' Kunhang mumbles, as he and Mark head to his locker, 'So i guess I'll suck it up and do the part on Ranpo's…'

 _Family,_ he probably means to say — Mark knows how much of a hassle this part is, has heard Kunhang complain about it a Handful of times —

But his sentence is cut short by the sight of a prospectus stuck to his locker, and he frowns.

'A party? That's kinda ill-fitting.'

Mark takes a peek at the flyer — navy blue paper, upon which red letters have been artfully penned (via computer) — _Lee Donghyuck's honorary send-off ♡, from 7:15pm until dawn,_ apparently celebrated at Taeyong's place. _Very_ ill-fitting, if you asked Mark, but… people deal with death in their own way, and perhaps that's Taeyong's way of trying to get better, of keeping Donghyuck's memory alive in a healthy way. 

(Though he does have to admit — the line _♡ celebrating Johnny's arrest ♡,_ written by Taeyong's address, doesn't give the invitation the best angle it could ever have.) (But perhaps that's Taeyong's way of cheering up his all-time best friend Kim Dongyoung and reassuring the crowd of students that was, up until now, scared to death, Mark guesses. It wouldn't be too far-fetched of a guess.)

'Slightly crazy,' Kunhang murmurs on the way to their history class, and Mark shrugs, turns to him.

'You going?'

🔪

Taeyong's _gigantic*_ house (*according to the rumours), located in the rural area of the town, is not served by any bus. It's forty minutes away from the nearest stop, actually, and Kunhang can't make peace with it.

'That's fucking crazy!' he exclaims, for the fifth time in the last three minutes — upset, but still very cute in his blue hoodie, hands shoved deep in his pockets, a pout on his lips. His hair is a recently-dyed burgundy, and Mark thinks it looks really, _really_ good.

'Who the fuck lives this far from school? From a bus stop? That's crazy, I tell you!'

Kunhang kicks one, two, three, four pebbles away — he grumbles some more in his beard, then sulks in his corner.

Until it rains, and they're forced to wait out the gentle storm under an awning. There, glued to Mark because of lack of space, moonlight making him look questionably ethereal — he turns to Mark.

'Do we really have to go there?' he asks. 'Do _you_ really want to go there? It's damn far. Does it really mean that much to you?'

It's… a lot — asked quickly, but gently, with a look in Kunhang's eyes that Mark can't quite decipher. It's not unusual for him, Mark has learnt the past few weeks, but it still feels too honest, and it hits home in a way Mark has never experienced before.

He looks away, to the wet pavement, the frogs hopping on it — thinks of Dongyoung, Taeyong, and all the victims he barely knew, all the presumed murderers he only talked to once. Does it really mean that much to him?

🔪

McDonald's is twenty minutes away from Taeyong's house — it's also, apparently, a hotspot for taxis, and Kunhang offers to pay for their ride if Mark finally makes up his mind.

'No pressure, though,' he tells Mark as they take a seat at a table near the exit. A lock of his hair is untameable, and rests in the middle of his forehead, makes him look like an old movie star — the burger he ordered smells delicious, and tastes just as much when he lets Mark take a bite — he senses Mark's anxiety, and lightens up the atmosphere with jokes and a new debate, football vs. candy —

The table is very small, and their hands brush against each other quite often. The stupid ugly lights make Kunhang look like an angel, and Mark thinks it’s full-blown crazy, how he’s never noticed before.

'So. Where to, Markie?'

🔪

Technically, the film Kunhang picked _is_ a nice break from everything: it's set in a fantasy world, and it involves no murder — everything is green instead of red, and parties are a thing only once a year. It _should_ be relaxing, should be just what Mark was looking for all evening -

But Kunhang reached out for his coat, _at Mark's left,_ twenty minutes ago — and, to make it easier for him to get whatever he was looking for, Mark leaned into him _eighteen minutes ago._

And they haven't moved since.

Or well - they have, and Kunhang's arm is now Tenderly wrapped around Mark's waist — Mark has glued himself to Kunhang's side, and now rests his head on his shoulder. But that doesn't count. Not in the same way, at least.

And it's… kinda crazy, to Mark. Kind of batshit insane.

'Hey,' he whispers — to distract himself from his heart, his thoughts, 'you really think that was Yuta, earlier? Coming out of the taxi?'

Dressed like he was ready to rob a bank, and not even acknowledging them. Mark is sure it was him. None walks like Nakamoto Yuta, not even his shadow.

'Yeah, pretty sure it was.' Kunhang's hand moves to Mark's shoulder, and softly strokes it — a chin is rested atop Mark's head, and Mark believes his soul ascends. 

'Crazy, huh?'

🔪

They walk out of the cinema hand in hand, without talking about it — do not let go, as they wait at the bus stop together.

Kunhang's hand is warm, and Mark is almost used to how gorgeous he looks under the wonky street lights. Almost: Kunhang smiles when he catches him staring, and Mark's heart flutters.

'Do you regret it?' he asks — softly, squeezing Mark's hand unconsciously —

Perhaps just as nervous as himself, Mark belatedly realises. He smiles, squeezes back.

'Not at all,' he replies shakily.

He means it.

🔪

The next day; Mark stumbles into the bathroom around ten o'clock. There, under the burning spray of water — he tells himself to thank Kunhang for the night — to perhaps, hint at something more, and hope for the very best.

Still in his bathrobe, it's with nervous hands he unlocks his phone, nervous feet he paces his room as he types The perfect message —

It's as he sends it that he receives a link from Kun, and he falls to the floor in shock.

KIM DONGYOUNG, LEE TAEYONG, CONFESSED TO UNIVERSITY MURDERS. CITIZENS WISHING NOTHING BUT JAIL FOR THEM.

_kunhang: (10:39:35) do you want to talk about your confession now, or you'd like some space to process the mess?_

  
  
  
  


❤

Unsurprisingly, he finds Kunhang in the office — immersed in what appears to be a blog, it takes a kiss to the temple to be noticed.

'You're home.'

The greeting is accompanied by a smile, a kiss on the lips — Mark flushes, just like on the first day — collects himself, and laughs when he sees the screen.

'And you've been reminiscing,' he says, pointing to old, familiar tones of red and blue, a flyer he hasn't seen in years. 'Missing the time there were killers on the loose?'

 _The time we got together,_ he adds — and the words are welcomed by arms snaked around his waist — Kunhang rising from his seat, and kissing him on the forehead.

'More like the time we nearly messed up our group project,' he says, and Mark, again, laughs. He'd forgotten that one. Somehow: back then, it was all that mattered.

'Hey, we did it, in the end, didn't we? Kun was impeccable.'

'As always.'

'And you were, too. You did well on the family part.' (Mark remembers, a much younger Kunhang standing before him, gulping before monologuing, and not once stuttering. His hair was blue, then — the lights of the classroom made him look like a prince of a kingdom underwater.) 'You did really well.'

 _Yeah,_ Kunhang replies, and it's a moment before he speaks again, locking eyes with Mark, smiling.

(And Mark remembers: the Monday after the news broke out, how weak his legs had been after the officers had interviewed him, and how warm Kunhang's embrace had been as soon as he'd reached their bench.)

'Are you making dinner? I was thinking we could just order some McDonald's, and…'

'Rewatch that movie? In memory of that time?'

Kunhang flushes — nods.

'Yeah.'

(Dongyoung and Taeyong, flanked by officers, collecting their stuff at school, almost getting into a fight with Yuta and Johnny — screams, filling the hallway — and a hand, taking him away, far from the nasty scene.)

Mark squeezes Kunhang's hand, lets go — pulls back after pecking him on the lips.

'Sure. But I'll take a shower first. Alright?'

Kunhang beams.

'Sure.'

(Dongyoung's single text to their group chat, the night he'd killed Jaehyun.)

As he leaves, Mark lingers by the door, and turns around.

'Hey,' he says. 'That era… It was crazy, wasn't it?'

Kunhang laughs.

'Yeah.'

  
  
  


_Dongyoung: (22:45:19) totally crazy._

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a very famous movie that i will not namedrop for the sake of spoilers (of the movie), but if you know (and you probably do) you know
> 
> this also means that if you guessed the ending correctly and feel like you Need to tell me about how poorly the suspense was done… don't. i know. i wasn't going for a subtle approach. as i said, this takes after the movie.
> 
> if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! 🔪 [twt](https://twitter.com/millesoirees) 🔪


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